Yuri Leiderman and Igor Chatskin are friends and artists, members of the group of Odesa conceptualists. At various stages of their creative work, they successfully engaged in artistic and literary practices. The results of their work are presented in the main museums of the world and occupy an important place in history of modern world art. In the nineties, they engaged in performance art both jointly and separately.

In 1984, they presented the provocative performance “Methods of killing with a flag”. The action was dedicated to one of the fundamental and sacred symbols of the Soviet era – the red flag. In the fund of the Museum of Odesa Modern Art, Yuri Leiderman’s were represented sketches before the start of the performance, sketches made after and partly the photo documentation of its performance. On the four photos, Igor Chatskin is standing dressed in a neat coat, shirt, jeans and patent leather shoes. He conducts various manipulations with the flag over another participant, who is sitting on a stump or lying on a board barefoot, with a balaclava on his head, wearing not very clean pants. In the first photo, Igor Chatskin is trying to insert a flagpole into the heart of his performance partner. On the second, he drills partner’s head with a flag. The third one shows Chatskin wrapping the fabric of the flag around his partner’s head, trying to strangle him. In the fourth photo, the flag pole is inserted into the ass. Judging by the available sketches, no photos of beheading and breaking limbs with the flag have survived.

“Methods of killing with a flag” became an act of artistic provocation and a critical comment on how the Soviet authorities had used their symbols to support the totalitarian regime. It should be noted that the authors used all the classical methods of medieval executions and torture during the performance. This puts modern totalitarianism and the unlimited power of medieval rulers on the same level, including a cultural one. The different quality and cost of the clothes of the two participants emphasizes the privileged position of the representatives of the power bloc in the totalitarian society. The performance questions the very nature of state symbols. The flag, which was traditionally associated with honor, pride and statehood in the world, was used in this performance as the service of repressive power. By the aid of the symbol the state can carry out various methods of brutally murdering its citizens not mentioning the brain washing.